


Relax, Relate, and Release

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 08:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2421731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Strauss hadn't just left the building, she’d left the stratosphere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Relax, Relate, and Release

“Move up a little, up, up. Now to the left, just a little to…yes, right there. There, there, mmm, ow, ow, ow, mmm David…don’t stop.”

“You are a ball of nerves.” Dave said, his hands working their magic over her back. “What's the matter with you?”

“Nothing that your touch can't cure.” Erin replied, her face half buried in the pillow so she was almost incoherent. “Do it harder.”

“You wanna be punished?” Dave asked, grinning.

“I just want to feel better. I, ow, work me there.”

“Maybe you should talk about it.”

“I don’t want to talk at the moment,” She said.

It wasn’t just at the moment; Erin didn’t want to talk lately. She’d been distant and Dave wasn’t sure what to do about it. Work was stressful; it was that way for all of them. Hotch was pretending to be OK after being stabbed nine times and having to put his son into hiding. The whole team was backing him up as he slipped into a place they weren't sure he would come back from.

Rossi was of the school of ‘let Hotch be Hotch’ but he was worried about his friend. Rossi loved people, present company included, and he had his share of work-related injuries. He didn’t have a son though. And he had no idea what it was like to be separated day in and day out, not sure if a killer was going to harm them before being recaptured. George Foyet was killing Hotch slow, but maybe that was his grand plan.

Erin knew everything that was happening as the BAU and the US Marshals worked to apprehend the fugitive. She watched from the skybox, deciding when players should leave the field and who would replace them. So far she had been quiet…the current situation was effective. Still, no one knew when and where she would call a time-out and send in the other guy.

Erin sighed, lifting her hands over her head. She was lying at the bottom of Dave’s bed on a cold, rainy night wondering what her next move would be. Aaron Hotchner needed to sit it out. She wasn’t doing it because she didn’t like him. If he wanted to keep his team together, which clearly he did, he couldn’t be the leader anymore.

It wasn’t a permanent stepping down even if Erin thought that might be for the best. She’d seen what the job did to Jason over the years. He was once full of life, love, learning and everything in between. She watched him become a shell of what he once was and then wither away altogether. Yes, there was a time when she wanted to get rid of them both but it wasn’t personal…it was always about the BAU.

The BAU couldn’t function if its leader went off the rails and loyal agents followed behind. She was a mother, couldn’t imagine what Agent Hotchner was going through not knowing where his son was. She was sure he couldn’t sleep and lived in fear that the man who stabbed him with no intent to kill but only torture wouldn’t be as kind to Jack. If anyone ever set their sets on her children in that way Erin would lose her mind.

He had to know he was not in the condition to do the job as needed. She understood that he needed the job; without it he would only have his nightmares. That didn’t mean he should be calling the shots. She was going to have to tell him so sooner rather than later.

“Oh my God,” she dragged the words out as her arms came down to her sides. She gripped the sheets while Dave’s hands kneaded the knots in her back. At first it hurt; it hurt so much she wanted to scream. Erin had reached the point where she was just too wound up. Baths didn’t help.

Sleep didn’t help…as if she was getting much. Sex, food, love, none of it helped. She needed the kinks to be worked out. Her lover had no problem using his hands for good. He used his hands for very, very good. “Ohhh David…”

“You like that, baby?”

“I do.”

“I think I got most of the kinks out. Now its time for the fun stuff.”

“I defer to you.” Erin murmured.

“Good.” He smiled as he went back to the top of the bed and grabbed another bottle of massage oil from the nightstand. The other stuff was just for efficiency, it helped ease muscle tension and the scent was relaxing. Now Dave pulled out the big guns.

He’d set the whole room up for a night of relaxation. But he had to start with getting Erin to the room. He dragged her from Quantico at 7. From there they had a quiet dinner at Equinox and then it was straight home to a candlelit bath. He could tell she was tired but happy.

After the bath it was straight to the bedroom for some personal attention. Dave lit candles, he put on some good music (nothing said good loving like Diana Krall), and he laid his woman down. He had to push away the thought of making love to her, even if it wasn’t completely selfish. She needed to be touched, caressed, healed…he had just the plan. Tonight would be all about Erin.

“Tell me how you want to feel.” Dave leaned down to whisper in her ear. He loved the way she shivered when he gently bit her lobe.

“I want to feel like I'm flying.”

“You don’t feel that way already?”

“I want to feel it even more. I want to completely let go.”

Dave poured some of the vanilla scented oil on his hands and rubbed them together. When they touched her skin, she sighed. When they moved across her skin, Erin moaned. He was an expert in her skin…had developed his craft over time. There were places Erin didn’t care if she was touched and places that made her bend to his will.

Certain spots made her giggle, moan, or shudder. The backs of her knees were off limits for reasons known only to her. The occasional foot massage was fine but Erin usually kept her feet to herself. Her back, shoulders, and sides were all his though. There was never any objection when his hands wandered, with or without massage oil.

Her skin craved him and Dave damn sure wasn’t about to disappoint. He was getting his own high as well. Watching her hands go from balled fists to relaxed fingers made him happy. Hearing her sigh or even just breathe was intoxicating. The way she sometimes wiggled when he touched a certain spot; Dave couldn’t help but touch it again to get the same reaction.

She was finally relaxed. Strauss hadn't just left the building, she’d left the stratosphere. No one was in the room but David and Erin and he wondered just what she might have to say. Knowing this could backfire on him, Dave took a deep breath before he said anything.

“Tell me the first thing that pops into your mind.”

“I’ll want a cigarette after this,” she mumbled. “But I’ll probably be too tired to smoke it.”

Dave laughed, bending to kiss the nape of her neck. Her hair was up and he loved it that way. Sometimes at Quantico he’d want to take out each pin, one at a time, and let it slowly fall. Erin still wore it chin-length, didn’t want to let it grow out. Efficiency was more important to her and shorter hair was easier to maintain. It didn’t matter what the length was when it was up though, which was often how she wore it to work. It was to separate the woman from the Section Chief.

“Tell me what you're worried about.”

“David…”

“Yes?”

“Don’t push my buttons.”

“You love it when I push your buttons.”

“Not tonight.” She replied.

“Alright, well how about this, if you need to talk about anything then I'm here. You don’t have to keep things from me. You don’t even have to keep work things from me that you think might upset me like those in the upper offices who think Hotch might not be able to do his job objectively because of what's happening with his family.”

“Will you just stop it?” Erin sat up. She grabbed the towel she was lying on to cover her nakedness. She looked at him and hoped she looked as angry as she was starting to feel. It sucked to have to feel that way when she felt so good too. Sometimes he just didn’t know when to stop and she had to tell him to stop.

Sometimes he couldn’t solve everything with his superior wit and veteran knowledge of every damn thing. “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to not talk about it while talking about it. I get one day off, tomorrow; I'm back at Quantico on Sunday. So forgive me if maybe I just want to be with you, David, and not subtly interrogated about Aaron Hotchner or any fuckin thing. Do you understand me?”

“Yeah.” he nodded. How come he never knew he’d gone too far until he looked behind him and saw the line? “I'm sorry.”

“Its fine.” She lied, climbing off the bed altogether. “I just need to excuse myself for a moment.”

“Erin…”

She wasn’t listening; she was already making her way into his bathroom. When she closed the door behind her, Erin leaned on it and took some deep breaths. It had been a long day but a good evening. Maybe it was just time to go to bed and end it on only a slightly uncomfortable note. She knew her relationship with David…certain situations could go from 0 to very uncomfortable in 60 seconds.

Erin let the towel drop and grabbed one of the tee shirts he kept on the shelf. She pulled the pins out of her hair, putting them in the tiny cup on the counter. She cleaned her skin, brushed her teeth; did all the nightly rituals as she tried to shake off the last few minutes. The last thing Erin wanted to do was go to sleep with this on her mind.

She’d plan to let Dave have his way with her and then drift off on clouds of satisfaction. Leave it to him to fuck that up royally. Men had this tendency to be idiots at the worse time. Women were probably the same but she wasn’t upset with a woman right now.

“Are you alright?” he tapped gently on the door.

“Mmm hmm,” she replied. “I'm just getting ready for bed.”

“OK.”

In the bedroom, Dave blew out all the candles. He turned off the music and turned down the sheets. Mudgie was sleeping over at his friend Pete’s tonight, who was also his dog sitter, so it would be just the two of them. He was trying to think of a way to make it up to her, ask for forgiveness for ruining her night. But there was nothing he could do really.

It was just better to go to sleep. Breakfast in the morning was a good way to show his love and concern. Of course he would also make love to her if Erin allowed it. She rarely said no but Dave knew he would push his luck if he tried to get frisky tonight.

Erin walked out of the bathroom and turned off the light. She walked around to his side of the bed and climbed over, which was a ritual Dave found fascinating. He had no idea why she did it but she always did. He didn’t even like that she slept on the side by the door.

His caveman tendencies wanted her on the inside where he could protect her in case something happened. Erin slept in the place she was most comfortable and that was the end of the story. That was one of those times her defiance wasn’t sexy but he let I go. She looked at him when she was under the covers.

“I love you.” she said.

“I love you too, baby.”

“Come and give me a kiss.”

Dave smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed and taking her face in his hands. His kiss was soft, then passionate, and then needy. Erin pulled away before he got his fill.

“Sometimes we just can't talk about it David, no matter how much you may want to. There are boundaries, in the job, that can't be crossed. You know that but sometimes I feel like you don’t respect…”

“I overstepped my bounds.” He replied. “I know sometimes we can't talk about it. I tell myself that and then can't stop it when the other Dave comes out and starts pushing. I'm sorry.”

“Your apology is accepted.”

“ _Accepted_ accepted or just tentatively accepted?”

“It’s _accepted_ accepted. Come to bed, Agent Rossi.”

Dave did what she asked. He turned out the lamp and held her in his arms. They didn’t talk anymore, probably a good thing. It felt good just to hold each other, end another day in the arms of the person you loved. Things might be bumpy for a while; they both smelled the storm coming. Erin was boarding up the windows in hopes that it wouldn’t completely destroy the beautiful but sometimes fragile foundation they’d built.

***

  



End file.
